This Recreation Of A 1980s Art Show Illuminates How Feminism Has Changed, And How It Has Stayed The Same

For their 45th anniversary year, A.I.R. Gallery in New York has been hosting The Unforgettables Program. This program was designed to recreate past A.I.R. shows that utilize themes “that defy passage of time and remain urgent to feminist discourse.” The third and final installment of this program, launching August 2nd, is Dialectics of Entanglement: do we exist together?

Dialectics of Entanglement was originally displayed in 1980 by gallery members Ana Medieta and Kazuko Miyamoto with the artist Zarina. The exhibit was created to show how women of color were being left out of the feminist movement, even though they played a large role in building it.

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The 2018 rendition include works from the original artists, in addition to performance, video, and text pieces that were created especially for this recreation. The purpose is to look at how the conversations and conditions in feminism have changed and how they have stayed the same.

Aruna D’Souza writes about the need to explore "Third World Feminism" as an important point of departure for inclusive feminist discourse. Roxana Fabius, and Patricia M. Hernandez will explore the temporalities of the exhibition, and how being in conversation with the past connects to our current political climate. Rachael Rakes will delve into the presence of abstraction and figuration as coexisting political impetus in the exhibition and how that manifests assumed otherness. There will be both an online and offline catalogue of the exhibition.

Dialectics of Entanglement will be on display from August 2nd-September 1st. The show was curated by A.I.R. Executive Diretor Roxana Fabius and Associate Director Patricia M. Hernandez, with Assistant Curator Carla Zurita. The artists participating in this show include Aruna D’Souza, Regine José Galindo, Che Gosselt, and Rachael Rakes.

The show will involve two live performances that approach themes from the original exhibition. On August 15th, Che Gosselt will do a performance-based lecture based on their research on racial capitalism, animality and abolition, and queer anti-colonial struggles.

Take a sneak peek at the exhibition below.

"The Studio Visit" by Janet Henry

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When God Was A Woman (Study) by Judith Baca

Corners by Zarina, 1980

A Still from Howardena Pindell's Free, White and 21, by Howardene Pindell, 1980

Top Image: Still from the video "La Sombra" by Regina José Galindo, all images courtesy of A.I.R. Gallery

Zoë Naseef is a fiercely sassy photojournalist, feminist, comedian, and co-host on the leftist feminist podcast Season of the Bitch. She is from Philadelphia but currently living in Brooklyn. To see her photography go to zotography.com, and for unwaveringly brash content follow her @zonaseef on Twitter and Instagram.

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